


In Seas of Shadows

by midnightflame



Series: Homecoming [6]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Implied Relationships, Keith is an angry kitty cat, Light Angst, M/M, lance is king of bad jokes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-01-14
Updated: 2017-01-14
Packaged: 2018-09-17 09:34:41
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,230
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9316022
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/midnightflame/pseuds/midnightflame
Summary: Not every 'welcome home ' is wanted or appreciated. Especially when Shiro is missing.





	

**Author's Note:**

> And here is the companion part to The Fallen Again - Keith side. Enjoy!

“Keith.”

His right hand aches. It’s all he can think about as he presses forward. It aches, and his ribs are burning against his lungs, and his heart is hammering in his chest, and there is this one tangle of a thought tumbling about in his head, going on and on about how saving one single person is just about as damning as leaving them there to die. Because at least. . . _at least_ if Shiro had let him stay, then they could have been somewhere together instead of who knew how many hundreds of miles –

“KEITH!”

Something lands with a sharp sting against the back of his head, jolting his thoughts and sending them skittering across his mind like a deck of cards too poorly handled. One hand flies to the back of his head while the other latches on to the offending object, which just happens to be Lance. 

He should have known.

“You really have to take a breath or something. Maybe meditate for like five years. . .”

Lance is staring at the fingers wrapped around his wrist, one eyebrow arched like a perfectly punctuating question mark for everything left unsaid. He gives his arm a shake, lifting it so their point of contact sits dead center in Keith’s gaze. 

“You’re as annoying as ever,” Keith mutters as he drops his hold and continues on the warpath he had mapped out for himself in the first place. 

“And you’re not even back a full hour before popping your kingly crown of asshole right back on. . .”

Keith stops just long enough to glare at Lance. For some reason, it always buys him about thirty seconds of silence before Lance can start in on something else. Shiro had once laughed about it being a reset button, but Keith had insisted it set nothing back because inevitably Lance would be right back on the topic or something else equally as irritating because he was Lance and. . .Shiro had shut him up with a kiss then, still chuckling as he did so. The memory has something tearing right into his gut. For several heart-staggering seconds, Keith forgets how to breathe. 

“Whoa there, your majesty. . .”

Lance has a hand around his elbow, his touch light, his eyes bright with concern. Keith hates how much he appreciates the gesture. Dutifully ignoring the statement latched onto the act, of course. 

“Just. . . _I’m fine_ , Lance. So let go of me.”

And he does, just like that, arms held up as he slinks several steps to the right. It almost has Keith feeling. . .sorry for his reaction, but then memory floods back in just like the ache in his hand (he really should have thought twice about punching his way through robotic soldiers, but there had been something wonderfully cathartic about it). His fingers curl inward, drawing out the pain, and once more he’s moving forward with Lance hurrying at his side.

“Yeah, kinda don’t think you’re okay there. I mean you don’t look like you’re still bleeding and all, but have you looked in a mirror recently?”

A glance from the corner of his eye is all Keith gives Lance, but that has always been all the encouragement Lance has ever needed to continue. Which he does by gesturing towards the left side of his face, his fingers buzzing just over his skin.

“There’s like blood all over, dude. Nice warrior look and all, _really_ , but you might want to get yourself checked out.”

As they step out of the hallway and into the control room, Keith notices the rest of the Paladins, along with Allura. Lance pulls to a halt just behind him.

“I thought I told you to rest.”

“We don’t have time for that! They have Shiro!” Keith narrows his eyes at Allura, defiance putting steel into his words.

“And if they had wanted him dead, you would have found his body!” she counters, voice ringing clear and calm, and setting a fire blazing right in the center of Keith’s being. Just as his lips part, she’s holding up her hand. “And seeing as you did not, then we still have time.”

“Just how much?! A day, a week. . .”

“If you would show half the amount of good judgment Shiro has –“

“His _judgment_ got him captured!”

Allura drops her hand, taking several steps forward. “And we still have both the Red and Black Lions. . .” She pauses, hands pulling together in front of her, fingers knitting together like a prayer just waiting to be made. Voice softening, she continues, “. . .as well as you, Keith.”

His mouth twists, fury and pain cavorting through his body. The blow had been unexpected, everything that Keith had been trying to deny his thoughts because _he is here_ and half of him is somewhere else, unknown and silent. 

“Yeah, Keith. . . as long as we have the Black Lion, we still have a good chance of finding him.” Pidge, quietly from the side.

There’s a throbbing numbness spiraling out from his core, deafening his thoughts, the world around him. For a moment, everything turns a star-swallowing black as his head drops, his eyes fixed on the floor but unseeing. And in the midst of it all, the quiet thump of his heart beating. 

Everything _hurts_.

“Let’s get you taken care of, huh?” Hunk prods, cautious but kind, as he leans down in front of him. “You look like you have some pretty nasty wounds. . .”

The first thing Keith registers is the worried knit in Hunk’s brow. 

“The sooner we act, the more likely we will be to find Shiro.”

The second thing that hits him is just how fucking closed in he’s starting to feel. His gaze darts from Hunk before him to Allura just visible over his shoulder. There’s a similar look of concern drawing itself over her face, though far sharper with her lips pulling together tight, and her hands still locked fervently together. 

“We need to be smart about this, Keith. We can’t just go handing the Lions over to Zarkon in our haste.”

His eyes linger on Allura, and he wonders if it’s not a prayer she’s offering up, but keeping some small hope desperately contained.

“I’m not saying we have to be stupid. I’m saying we have to start. _Now_.”

Hunk grimaces before him. “Oh man. . .”

“Seriously, dude?” Lance mutters on the tail end of a sigh behind him.

And just over the line of Hunk’s shoulder, Keith watches as Allura’s hands drop to her sides, as her mouth pulls tighter still and her shoulders sink. She nods her head once, and as she does, Keith finds two pairs of hands wrapping themselves forcefully around his arms.

“Take him to a cryo-pod then.”

Keith blinks, stunned as Lance and Hunk pull him the first three steps of the way. 

“No. . .no. . .Allura! You can’t –“ He’s twisting and turning, a perfect picture of absolute futility, and there is no saving grace in the fury shaking his voice. “ – You can’t be doing this! Not now! Not when Shiro is still out there!”

“I hate to admit it, but despite everything you’re saying, I really do think you need to go chill for a bit.”

“Fuck off, Lance.”

The fingers on his left arm sink in like iron rods, amplifying the pain settling into his bones.

Hunk offers a smile, small and soft and thoroughly apologetic. “Welcome back, right?”


End file.
